


Hooks and Needles

by verymerrysioux



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Crochet, Fluff, Gen, Knitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29311233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verymerrysioux/pseuds/verymerrysioux
Summary: There are things that don't last forever, no matter how much Link does his best to keep it that way.
Relationships: Link & Malon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Hooks and Needles

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Arson isn't the only Stress Relief](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29263269) by [EstaJay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstaJay/pseuds/EstaJay). 



> I would recommend reading [Arson isn't the only Stress Relief](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29263269) first.

He stares at the mess of hairy ribbons that was once a soft patch of fuzzy fabric, his few attempts in fixing it has somehow made the hole bigger. 

(He’s good at breaking things, not fixing them.)

He should have known this would happen. 

He kept wearing it during winter despite it becoming smaller and smaller for him every year. He kept pulling it out despite his old Kokiri tunic becoming too small and taking up a permanent space in one of the deepest pockets in his pack (he can’t throw any of his clothes from that time, he doesn't think he can do it, he still has all his masks as well). He kept wearing it despite the unfortunate death of his cloak from a pack of wolfos and their very sharp claws.

It was simple, it didn’t have any intricate patterns woven into it, just a few orange stripes and a misshapen yellow blob that he suspects was an attempt to make the triforce. The colors have faded over the years, the bright vibrant blue turning into a duller lighter shade, and some of the tassels are uneven and frayed. 

But he loved it when he first got it, and he still loves it now. It was a gift. Warm and soft and made for him.

And it got caught by an errant knife from a certain princess who wanted to learn her caretaker's way of fighting. Who may as well stabbed it again when she snapped at him and said she would buy him another one. A better one that was longer and made with the finest thread and had better embroidery and colors.

(“Honestly, Link, grow up! It’s just a scarf!”)

He hasn't gone back to the castle for weeks, he's been staying in Lon Lon Ranch since then. It's still winter, and camping out in the snow is not appealing as the bards play it out to be.

* * *

He sees Malon do something new during a particularly stormy day. There wasn't much to do in winter besides keeping the animals warm, alive, and healthy. Huddle in the warmest places with the warmest things possible. Cook some food, and maybe share a few tales to fill in the silence (he’s proud to say that nobody hasn’t beaten him in telling the scariest stories).

Nobody wanted to go out in this weather.

Today was a slow day. He was trying to compose a new song he could either sell or play in Ed’s pub for some extra rupees (it didn’t pay as much compared to monster hunting or protection quests, but it was something he liked to do). Talon did some bookkeeping while Malon brought down a basket of yarn and a strange-looking hook.

Ingo was in his sister's home, thank Farore, he didn't think he could stand the man in an enclosed space for so long. 

He stops playing his ocarina to stare at Malon.

She does something with the yarn and hook. Wrap and pull, wrap and pull. Making row upon row of strange-looking knots. Slowly and surely creating a square piece of fabric before his eyes, and he felt a wave of nostalgia and hope as he realized what she was doing.

"You can knit?" he asks.

Malon looks up, giving him an affronted look.

Talon sighs and he swears he hears him mutter, "Here we go again."

* * *

A few minutes and an angry rant later, he’s a little more educated on what Malon was doing. That it was decidedly not knitting and to call it so would bring her ire and another verbal tirade.

She did all of this while finishing several tea towels, both impressive and terrifying.

"So you can't kn-er, I mean, fix a scarf?"

"I can't fix a scarf, he says," she mutters, and he swears the snip of her scissors had just the same energy as when he stabs a particularly stubborn Skulltula. Maybe even stronger. "Fairy boy, I can shit out scarves by the dozens with my eyes closed."

He knows Malon is pissed when she actually swears (even when Talon is nearby).

"Can you fix mine?"

She sighs and says, "Let me take a look."

* * *

"I don't know what to do," he murmurs as she traces the stitches on the scarf. Feeling every bump and taking note of its V-shaped loop. Some are uneven, others too tight. Whoever made this was clumsy and unsure of the tools they were wielding and inexperienced with handling yarn. The tension isn’t consistent at all.

She knows, she had been the same long ago.

"I know how to mend clothes, and I tried doing the same. But it kept-"

"Unraveling?" she asks, her fingers stop at the large hole in the middle of the scarf. The few stitches that survived were loose and untethered, just a small tug away from unraveling further and making the hole bigger. A few strands also hang loosely, creating more free loops.

"Yeah, so I rolled it up and kept it since then." He looks away. "It's from when I was a kid and it's small, _ I know. _ I use a bigger scarf now and I shouldn't cling to it so much, _ I know. _ I should do the practical thing and-” Grow up and let go. “But he's not here to-the cloak got destroyed as well and-" He's not going to cry, he has to at least grow up in this aspect. "... It's the only one left."

There's a lot of things she doesn't know about Link. Where he came from, where are his parents, what happened that made him change from the giggly lively fairy boy to the scowling quiet (she doesn't want to say fairyless, even she knows that would be cruel) boy she met hours after.

But she understands the preciousness of items made by someone who wasn't here anymore. No matter its quality, no matter its value. She understands how they're as precious as they are fragile. She'll never forgive Ingo for ruining ma's doily and coaster set, the few things she made while she was bedridden (and she knows pa is the same, he just hides it better, there's a reason he's stopped helping Ingo with his work).

"I know you said this crochet was different, but it looks similar enough that maybe...?"

She looks at the loops and the lines of yarn behind it. She can see how the cloth was made, and if it were only untethered stitches that were a problem then it would have been easy. But there were cut yarn ends as well.

"I have some blue yarn that can work in a pinch, but it's a shade darker," she says, reaching for her sewing kit. She gets a needle and some thread and threads into the free loops, keeping them from unraveling further. "It's going to look patchy."

"That's fine," Link says, staring in fascination as she sews a lock into the loops. "As long as most of it is intact, I don't mind."

"You can go back to playing, this might take a while," she points out, looking at the hooks and thinking which size might be the closest to replicate the V-looking stitch.

"I don't mind," he repeats, smiling softly. "I used to watch him work often too, though I pretended I didn't. It was fascinating to see yarn turn into-" he gestures at the scarf "-something wide and tangible like that."

She laughs. It's tempting to ask who 'he' was to Link, but she knows he might clamp up and go quiet again. 

"It's the magic and beauty of yarn crafts." She grins. "Starts with the thinnest thread and can end in the biggest blanket you'll ever want!" Or afford, yarn can be expensive.

"Can you teach me?" he asks. "I regret never asking him to teach me, but it was a w-... it never crossed my mind."

She raises an eyebrow. "Most boys aren't interested in things like this." Pa tried, but she knows he got bored with it.

He snorts. "This kept me warm for years, most boys can run around naked and freeze their butts off in winter then."

She laughs again. Fairy boy has and never will be most boys, it's what makes him charming. "Tell you what, you do my chores for a week, and I fix the scarf and give you some lessons, deal?"

Talon gives both of them a pointed look.

Link ignores it and grins. "Deal."


End file.
